Holyfield beats Nielsen in 10th round stoppage

COPENHAGEN – Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield defeated Denmark’s Brian Nielsen on a 10th round stoppage Saturday as the 48-year-old moved a little closer to another world title shot.

Holyfield, a four-time world champion who defeated Mike Tyson and George Foreman in his prime, had the 46-year-old Nielsen pinned in a corner before the referee stepped in.

Holyfield, who now has 44 wins, with 28 knockouts and 10 defeats, had last fought in January but that clash against Sherman Williams was declared a no-contest due to a cut over his eye.

Now he hopes Saturday’s win will be a stepping stone to a fight with either of the Klitschko brothers who hold the major heavyweight belts between them.

Holyfield took the lightly-regarded WBF belt in April 2010 with victory over South Africa’s Francois Botha after a loss to WBA champion Nikolay Valuev in December 2008.

Nielsen, the IBO champion, went into Saturday’s fight with 64 wins in 66 fights, but he hadn’t boxed in over eight years with his last appearance in the ring ending in defeat to Tyson in April 2002.